Why Najib chose the forex scandal to whack Mahathir

Najib has many options to choose from in how to hit back at Mahathir. Najib could have chosen any one of the dozens of scandals that Mahathir left behind. But Najib chose the Bank Negara forex scandal to whack Mahathir. And this was done for a reason.

THE CORRIDORS OF POWER

Raja Petra Kamarudin

I can give you scores of clichés to describe Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s latest blog posting titled SURUHANJAYA DIRAJA. If you can’t stand the heat, get out of the kitchen. Those who live by the sword die by the sword. Don’t do unto others what you would not have done unto you.

Anyway, I am sure you know what I mean. Mahathir is so upset that Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak beat him at his own game…and more, in fact.

Mahathir went all out to try to oust Najib in a most vicious and relentless manner with absolutely no mercy whatsoever. However, when he gets whacked back, Mahathir cannot stand it. Mahathir wants to shadowbox. He wants to hit Najib but he does not want Najib to hit back. And now Mahathir is grumbling that Najib is using the RCI (Royal Commission of Inquiry) that was set up to investigate the RM31.5 billion Bank Negara forex losses to hit him (….penubuhan RCI bertujuan mencari alasan untuk mengaitkan dan menyalahkan kepimpinan parti lawan dengan dakwaan bahawa pegawai-pegawai Bank Negara menipu jumlah kehilangan duit bank semasa mengurus dagangan mata wang 30 tahun dahulu).

Surely Mahathir knows when you hit someone that person will hit you back — and sometimes hit you back even harder. Even a dog will bite you if you kick it. Did Mahathir not throw Anwar Ibrahim into jail in 1998 when Anwar plotted against him? And did Mahathir show any mercy for Anwar? Until today Mahathir has not shown any remorse regarding what he did to Anwar. So what does Mahathir expect to happen when he plots against Najib and for the last three years tried all sorts of ways and means to oust Najib?

The mistake here is Mahathir thought Najib was going to be a pushover. When Mahathir started attacking Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi (Pak Lah) in June 2006, 33 months later Pak Lah resigned from office. But it is now 36 months since Mahathir started the attacks on Najib and he still refuses to resign. In fact, Najib is getting stronger rather than weaker.

And this is what Mahathir is really very upset about. If this state of affairs continues, Najib may still be Prime Minister when they give Mahathir the grand ‘send-off’ to the Hero’s Mausoleum at Masjid Negara (Makam Pahlawan). Najib has plenty of time on his side, something that Mahathir does not have the luxury of.

Mahathir grossly underestimated Najib — or maybe Mahathir overestimated his own prowess. It was Mahathir who appointed Pak Lah as his successor. So when he wanted Pak Lah to go there was very little choice in the matter — although Pak Lah did resist in the beginning until the attacks became too severe that Pak Lah eventually had to throw in the towel and call it a day.

But it was not Mahathir who appointed Najib as Pak Lah’s successor. Pak Lah did. So Najib does not owe Mahathir any favours and does not need to call it quits just because Mahathir wants him out. And this is what Mahathir forgot. He made Pak Lah the Prime Minister. So he can ‘unmake’ him. But Mahathir did not make Najib the Prime Minister. So he cannot ‘unmake’ Najib.

When the attacks first started Mahathir constantly insulted Najib by calling him a coward, no balls, and so on. But Najib kept quiet and this made Mahathir feel that Najib was not a fighter and would never dare hit back. But Najib’s silence is what Malays would call ‘diam-diam ubi berisi’. There was bisa (sting) in Najib’s silence and Mahathir was soon going to feel the full power of this bisa.

Mahathir was so proud of his Look East Policy, which he launched soon after he became Prime Minister in 1981. Mahathir wanted Malaysia to learn from Japan’s success and to emulate this success. Mahathir should also have learned from Japan’s mistakes. And the mistake Japan made was it woke up a sleeping tiger, the United States, by attacking Pearl Harbour.

The day Japan attacked Pearl Harbour was the day the fortunes of WWII changed. America’s entry into the war not only affected the Pacific Theatre but the war in Europe as well. When Japan attacked Pearl Harbour it triggered the end for Hitler and Nazi Germany.

Mahathir should have let sleeping tigers go on sleeping. But Mahathir gatal sangat and just had to poke Najib with a stick. And now Najib has grabbed that stick and has beaten Mahathir back with it. And Mahathir goes crying back to mama.